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Friday, August 24, 2012

I love these super easy and delicious Green Beans with Lemon Juice and Lemon Zest.

(For Phase One Fridays I highlight Phase One recipes from the past that have been my personal favorites. Right now my garden is producing more green beans than I can keep up with, and these lemony green beans are one of my favorite ways to use them.)

If you have a garden that's producing green beans, I enthusiastically advise that you bookmark this recipe and make it over and over again. I didn't even have garden beans when I first tried the recipe, but I made it three times with the French green beans that come from Costco. In fact, the first time I made it, I ended up eating a whole pound of green beans myself and calling it lunch! Thanks to Cheap Healthy Good for inspiring me to buy Moosewood Restaurant Simple Suppers, which is where I found this idea for my new favorite way to cook green beans!

Trim both ends of the beans. I do this by taking a handful of beans, standing them up in my hand, then letting them fall down on to the cutting board, which lines up the ends.

Bring salt and water to boil in a small saucepan, then cook the beans for about 5 minutes, or until they're barely tender-crisp.

While beans cook, zest and squeeze the juice of one lemon. (I used all the juice, but I like things really lemony.)

Drain beans in a colander placed in the sink.

Heat the olive oil in the same pan you cooked the beans in, then add the beans, pour over the lemon juice, season with salt and fresh ground black pepper to taste, and cook about 1 minute (just long enough to get the beans infused with lemon flavor.)

Trim both ends of green beans. (I do this taking a handful of beans, standing them up in my hand, then letting them fall down on to the cutting board, which lines up the ends. Then trim that end and repeat with the other end.)

Fill a medium-sized saucepan half full with water, add salt, and bring to a boil. When water boils, add beans, reduce heat to a gentle simmer and cook beans about 5 minutes, or until they are barely tender-crisp.

While beans cook, grate the zest and squeeze the juice from the lemon.

When beans are tender-crisp, drain into a colander placed in the sink. Return pan to stove and heat the olive oil. When the oil is hot, add the beans, pour over the lemon juice, season to taste with salt and fresh ground black pepper, and cook beans for about 1 minute, stirring a few times. (Cook beans just long enough to get them infused with lemon flavor.)

Nutritional Information?
I chose the South Beach Diet to manage my weight partly so I wouldn't have to count calories, carbs, points, or fat grams, but if you want nutritional information for a recipe, I recommend entering the recipe into Calorie Count, which will calculate it for you.

More Great Ideas for Cooking Green Beans:
(Recipes from other blogs may not always be South Beach Diet friendly; check ingredients.)

Posts may include links to my affiliate account at Amazon.com, and Kalyn's Kitchen earns a few cents on the dollar if readers purchase the items I recommend, so thanks for supporting my blog when you shop at Amazon!

Posts may include links to my affiliate account at Amazon.com, and this blog earns a few cents on the dollar if readers purchase the items I recommend, so thanks for supporting my blog when you shop at Amazon!

Well, that's quite a recommendation ... eating one pound in one sitting, Kalyn! But looking at your photos and imagining the lemon juice, zest, black pepper, and olive oil combo, I can see why. :-) We haven't had fresh green beans yet ths year at home, but I'd love to give this recipe a try. It would make a great presentation for a dinner or pot luck, too.

I made these beans for dinner tonight. YUMMY! I love lemon & it complimented the beans perfectly. They tasted fresh & light. I will be making these again for sure! Thanks for posting this delicious recipe.

My first thought when I saw the photo was, "Oh my--she cut the beans!" This was said with a mixture of awe/jealousy, as my mom *never* let me use a knife on green beans...so I've spent countless hours snapping each end....*smile* These look lovely--and I can't wait to see what kind of kick the lemon gives the beans!

That looks gorgeous, Kalyn, so recommendation taken, bookmarked NOW. We've had beans for a couple of weeks now but they're woody, not so great. Luckily good green beans are easy to find, including yes, at Costco and my personal favorite, Trader Joe's.

I love Moosewood - I have almost all of their books but I don't think I have that one...I'm off to check and if I don't I'll be ordering it.

I have thought of you many, many times when I go out to my very sad garden. I'm determined to learn how to do it better but this year it's a mess. My herbs look great but even my zucchini is struggling. I can't seem to keep the ants away. They're eating the heck out of my plants. Any thoughts?

Amy, I think this will become a favorite cookbook. I don't know what to do for ants in a garden, but I'd recommend going to a garden center in your area (a small independent place where there will be an expert) and ask them what to do. I'm sure there's an organic way to keep them away from the plants.

Thanks for digging this up and re-posting...I'm new to your blog and love it so far, but haven't delved through all the old posts yet. We made these for dinner last night, with one small change...I added a smashed garlic glove to the oil while it was heating, and tossed it when I got ready to put the green beans back in. The results were AMAZING. I love lemon and garlic, and I'm a huge fan of green beans...I could have eaten the entire batch, if my pesky husband hadn't insisted on having half of them...SO delicious. We love them!!!

I made these beans about a week ago. I served them with ham with cranberries and roasted sweet potato wedges. Yum! My boyfriend liked the lemon flavour, but found them just a tad too lemony for his taste. For me, it was just the right amount of lemon. This recipe is simple and tasty and goes well with many dishes. I'll probably make these beans again.

This is a recipe that makes me want to run out into my garden and harvest green beans... until I remember that I don't grow beans in the garden! Sigh. I love green beans when they're still crunchy. Thanks for linking to one of my recipes.

Kalyn, I have to say thank you. My fiancé and I started the south beach diet a week ago. If I had not found your yummy recipes I would never hear the end of the whinning. But you are making me look like a stellar cook with all the right meals. ( he still says he needs candy corn Oreo, for the love of Pete). I have never been much of a cook. When I have been on the south beach before a hamburger patty and some Brussels sprouts would do me. With some beef jerky for a snack. I feel like I am doing the diet healthier because of your recipes ( and his whinny, but don't tell him") so thank you for putting your time into your blog!

I have been making this recipe for years... it's my go to for Thanksgiving!! It's always a hit! Question - I have to pre-make this year as there will be no options for cooking at the in-laws tomorrow. How can I pre-make these and then re-warm with the same yummy results? When I have them as left overs, they're still good, but not as 'fresh' as day of.

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